Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Freida on a roll...

Last night, just as I was about to bite into a piece of bajra bhakri soaked in asli ghee with a lump of organic jaggery crushed on its rough surface, my cell phone rang. Annoyed at the interruption (was wolfing down my dinner in anticipation of watching 'MILK' ), I snapped, " Yes?" which translates, " Unfamiliar number. I don't have to take this call. But now that I have taken it, identify yourself quickly, state your purpose, and keep it short. Really short. " The voice was distinctly American. Groan. Yet another phirang journo looking for a 'Slumdog' quote. Mais non. It was our Freida calling from LA. She'd received several messages on the column I'd written, but it was her mom's phone call that had touched her heart. " You brought a smile to my mother's face, " said Freida, " and I wanted to thank you." I mentioned the hate mail I'd been receiving ever since.... reams and reams of stuff from people who clearly didn't get it. Well ... that's life. I'd said my piece. I stand by it. Her relationship with Rohan Antao was a non-starter. We talked about her Red Carpet appearance, and Freida had a fiery retort reserved for those who thought she should have worn a saree. " Must a Japanese actor wear a kimono to the Oscar's? I am an international actor now...." Yup. We get that. A Woody Allen movie is big news, and an incredible break. Freida ain't coming back in a hurry.Who knows what might follow? Take a bet. Dev Patel will become history, too. Meanwhile , her boyfriend\fiance\husband continues to bleat pathetically . What a loser. I might have felt sorry for the dumped guy, had he not tried to get his two minutes of fame from this incident. By dishing out all those interviews, he is merely confirming something everybody suspected - Freida was his ticket to better days, money, popularity. Too bad, Antao. The golden goose took flight. Deal with it.

This is what may be called Luck By Chance. It is like a lottery ticket. Praise Freida if you want, but dont pull down that poor chap Antao. For that matter almost all women live on their husbands's wealth and fame and why a man is ridiculed if he is seen to be doing that? I am an old fashioned person and I prefer to be on the side of the loser.

Freida pe fida. i loved teh grace the poise and yet coolheadedness that she displayed. sat was grounded yet over-the-top with her costars. no pretension, no loudness, just plain and simple.

and her simplicity is displayed with the phone call. she didnt really have to call you and thank you... it is so easy to get carried away, now that she is the queen of hollywood leaving Bahu B and persis khambatta alll all all behind.

english has two beautiful words, "sorry" and "thank you". And the one who uses them prudently and appropriately is truly a person with a great heart.

love your freida. irrespective of whom you were married to.. or whom you wish to marry...

you have a beautiful heart and an optimistic outlook. you are india as much as we, no matter where you are hollywood or bollywood or mollywood.

Antao should consider himself extremely lucky that he got to see Freida's true colours so soon. Otherwise, he might have continued to wrongly believe for much longer that his wife loved him, which would have been a lot more unfortunate for him.

I agree completely. I think after watching too many Karan Johar flicks, we have become overly melodramatic in our real life as well. If things did not work out between Freida and her fiance, why do we need to make a melodramatic sob story out of it?I am getting tired with all kinds of excuses that people are coming up with to spoil the success of Rahman, Freida and Slumdog. Good to find your blog. :)

I've watched Slumdog Millionaire. The film's technicality is a hype more than anything else.

I'm only touched & alarmed by the reality shown. It's an eye opener for me, & I'm ashamed. How could I be so ignorant as to not know what these slum dwellers face? It had to be told by an outsider for me to shrink in the comfort of my sofa. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we fail to see the reality? Are we scared, shy or perhaps audaciously ignorant as to not look beyond our own comfort zone. Or is it just that these things do happen & we let it happen because this is life?

This is one of those stories that has managed to surface, & be told to the world. What about those numerous untold stories? I cannot even bare to imagine the atrocities that are committed behind closed doors. Those helpless little baby girls,... I'm most worried about them. I honestly couldn't sleep at night after the movie.

But then again, I'm only talking & blogging & talking & blogging, save my mouth! Damn it! I need to do something about it or just Shut up & not talk. It doesn't help writing. The pen is no longer a weapon to seek justice. Again, I'm in a fix. Where do we start? How can I contribute? I don't know. I'm just another mindless soul who can be vexed, and comforted now & then with an occasional emotional outburst and, eventually not do anything about it. I think, we all need help to help.

Who's dating / ditching who or is Frieda God's gift to mankind is certainly not a good topic for discussion. why talk so much about her and make her high and mighty? God, I tell you, next year this time, everybody will be like 'who's Frieda?'

I visit your blogs often because of the rational view you generally keep on various issues.

But your last two articles/entries of Freida were not very cool. I mean this Rohan or whoever it is doing something silly because of the break up or whatever, but is it really that big that he is roasted so harshly on your blog or news paper articules?

At the end it is their personal life and as it happens in a lot of relationships, ppl fall apart. Most of the "typical indian journo's" are already pointing fingers and calling what not names to poor Freida. Why would you want to get involved into something similar, when you are generally associated with good rational articles and opinions.

On a totally different note, would be quite interested in discussing generally how the journalists with "relatively" more integrity take care of their credibility. Also, as an author, coloumist what kind of issues/topics urge you to write on them?

Hi Shobha,I am a marathi gal living in KL, and am still drooling over the very mention of 'bhakri, toop and gul' sluurrrrppppp :PCan I say thank you for bringing back memories of home food. Marathi girls ROCK !!!

liked your perspective.people find stories and relationships difficult to swallow whenever they take a turn,doesn't matter whether it is conventional or not.the turn is always disturbing to mind, because there is dynamicity.Whatever dynamic is difficult to hold..change is the biggest challenge mind always try to get adjusted to.(often fails to)hope she, that boy and the people who follow these images will accept changes...after all.. everyone is "talking" about change without changing anything inside or out.wishes..take care

Hi Ma'am, This is the first post on your blog that I have read. The point about jilted lovers making hue and cry is an interesting one. Yesterday, on one of the news channels, Freida was literally shown as a "vamp", who takes sadistic pleasure in breaking hearts and her boyfriend was shown as a meek innocent fellow who as per the channel, deserved our support. Gosh, what we be the next thing in this country..Protest march with candles for jilted lovers. It is sad that women, and also men, are always under this social pressure to maintain a relationship, even though one or both the partners are not happy with the state of affairs of the same..

First of all, I express my joy in coming across your blog. Love how you express yourself and go about your life. How refreshing to read your stories, thoughts, views and little bit about you. Thank you for this blog, a lovely Shobhaa De experience.

Talking about Frieda (by the way, she has become a real dahl, very proud of her and also Dev and A R and co.), it is good that someone like you who obviously is well known and can reach many people, has voiced a view which supports Freida's decision to get on with her own destiny how she feels is right for her.

Life presents only one chance. It is a smart move to take hold of it... and work with it. Call it Miracle or Blessing or Luck or by any other name, Frieda's life has taken a huge jump, Just lke the movie Slumdog's story, her own life has given her opportunities, many can't or don't even dream of. Freida represent the modern woman perspective, and I applaud her fully for taking hold of her life and moving on. No other human has a right to ruin her life.

Relationship by nature can be complicated. Women around the world and in particular Indian women often get roasted in the marriage bowl. As men still think of themselves as superior and go about their business accordingly.

Many of us, adults still have long way to go to become practical when it comes to relationship. Freida has a lifestyle that is envy of many and she wants to make the most of what she has. A decision, no one has right to deny. Those who see this as wrong, will go through their own agony and bury themselves in it.

A relationship at this stage of charming and charismatic Freida's life, has to be compatible to what she is today. In fact she has no time for relationship at this stage of her life. Full Stop.

Look around us. How many international actors can sustain marriage, when they spend most of their working time thousand miles away from each other often for months and get to play roles involving intimacy, physical contacts etc, with many co-stars.

Life has high demands when you get to the stage where Freida is TODAY. Relationship at the end suffer and die, naturally, ruining positive energy that surrounds one's life. Freida doen't need that. She wants a clean slate. Good on her.

Freida dahling has big career in front of her knocking on the door and she has to open the door and welcome it BIG TIME.

Well, what do you know, she knows how to do it too. Good on her.

Rohan doesn't and cannot complete the picture for Freida now. He has been a casualty if the relationship claims are true. Be whatever that may... Rohan, too, has to move on, however painful this is now. It his destiny now. He has to learn that. Yes, it sounds like painful and difficult but as human, in time we all learn from our experiences and either make something of it or otherwise.

Welcome all to 2009. Change is part and partial of life. Enjoy your lot in life.

Congratulations Shobhaa, for this timely blog. Pleased to found you here, and glad to say/share my bit here.

First of all, I express my joy in coming across your blog. Love how you express yourself and go about your life. How refreshing to read your stories, thoughts, views and little bit about you. Thank you for this blog, a lovely Shobhaa De experience.

Talking about Frieda (by the way, she has become a real dahl, very proud of her and also Dev and A R and co.), it is good that someone like you who obviously is well known and can reach many people, has voiced a view which supports Freida's decision to get on with her own destiny how she feels is right for her.

Life presents only one chance. It is a smart move to take hold of it... and work with it. Call it Miracle or Blessing or Luck or by any other name, Frieda's life has taken a huge jump, Just lke the movie Slumdog's story, her own life has given her opportunities, many can't or don't even dream of. Freida represent the modern woman perspective, and I applaud her fully for taking hold of her life and moving on. No other human has a right to ruin her life.

Relationship by nature can be complicated. Women around the world and in particular Indian women often get roasted in the marriage bowl. As men still think of themselves as superior and go about their business accordingly.

Many of us, adults still have long way to go to become practical when it comes to relationship. Freida has a lifestyle that is envy of many and she wants to make the most of what she has. A decision, no one has right to deny. Those who see this as wrong, will go through their own agony and bury themselves in it.

A relationship at this stage of charming and charismatic Freida's life, has to be compatible to what she is today. In fact she has no time for relationship at this stage of her life. Full Stop.

Look around us. How many international actors can sustain marriage, when they spend most of their working time thousand miles away from each other often for months and get to play roles involving intimacy, physical contacts etc, with many co-stars.

Life has high demands when you get to the stage where Freida is TODAY. Relationship at the end suffer and die, naturally, ruining positive energy that surrounds one's life. Freida doen't need that. She wants a clean slate. Good on her.

Freida dahling has big career in front of her knocking on the door and she has to open the door and welcome it BIG TIME.

Well, what do you know, she knows how to do it too. Good on her.

Rohan doesn't and cannot complete the picture for Freida now. He has been a casualty if the relationship claims are true. Be whatever that may... Rohan, too, has to move on, however painful this is now. It his destiny now. He has to learn that. Yes, it sounds like painful and difficult but as human, in time we all learn from our experiences and either make something of it or otherwise.

(by the way, I notice the website "freidapinto.com" is off server today... from what I hear it is put up by Rohan. Well, Rohan, if you happen to read this, and if you have anything to do with the domain name and the server and the website, your handing over to Freida, will be best thing you can do, it will redeem you in public eye and get lost of blessings along the way. )

Welcome all to 2009. Change is part and partial of life. Enjoy your lot in life.

Congratulations Shobhaa, for this timely blog. Pleased to found you here, and glad to say/share my bit here.

Why Freida? the first thing Sushmita Sen did after winning the Miss Universe title was dump her boyfriend, and nobody hauled her over the coals.And if you have seen the reviews for The Pink Panther 2 in The Telegraph and The Times in the UK Ash does not even get a mention so one can imagine what will happen to Freida after the hype of Slumdog wears out.

Whatever Frieda does from here on is going to be scrutinised to within an inch of her life. Her own savvy, acting chops and her management will determine her fate. She has a look and a style that the west appreciates, so that is a leg up for her. She has thrown her ring into the World market place and right now is not trying to ride two boats... a foot in each (Bahu's downfall... even Penelope Cruz was having huge trouble with that and decided to stay put in Hollywood for a few years to consolidate her career).

The first thing that struck me about this blog post was the "American Accent". I hope it is because she has a good diction and accent coach, not because it is self taught after a year in the country. Only because that would indicate to me that she is putting down a firm foundation for her career as an "international actor" in a rational manner. Getting the training and continuing education an actor needs, for every single movie. Yeah, even the biggest stars still take performance lessons between movies.

Indian accents are lovely ... and I have a WERY TICK accent myself, but you need more variety than that to be marketable as an actor the world over.

About her boyfriend/fiance/husband. Ummmmmmm... its too bad thier relationship did not work when faced with huge changes in one partners life. Tis the way life works. I feel bad for him because it is the person who gets left behind who has more time to think and gaze at thier navel and generally become a sad sack. So my sympathies with Rohan for that... not for the relationship not working. I am sure they both went into it with the utmost sincerity and neither wanted to nessecarily use the other, but ya know... stuff happens!

If rumors circulating around in Hollywood circles are true than Danny Boyle is seriously considering making a sequel which would revolve around the twists and turns in the life of the slumdog-turned-millionaire, Jamal Malik.

According to some insiders who have read the script of the sequel, the feel-good story of Jamal takes an ugly turn in the second part when he takes a decision to dump his childhood sweetheart Latika, soon after winning the prize money of twenty million rupees. The sequel starts from the point where the original movie ends. After his monumental win at the quiz contest, Jamal becomes an overnight international sensation. His remarkable rags-to-riches story get international coverage and he gets featured on BBC, CNN, NYT, Washington Post and Fox News. From a poor Mumbai boy living in slums, Jamal is catapulted into an entirely different world where he gets interviewed by the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Larry King and gets multi-million dollar offers by tabloid editors, biographers, television moguls and Hollywood producers to sell his extraordinary life story.

Jamal Malik now realizes that he is no longer the Jamal who loved a sweet but very ordinary-looking slum girl. With international fame and millions of dollars in his bank, he realizes that he has outgrown the very girl for whom he participated in the quiz show. He starts wondering where Latika would fit into his life now that he is not just a celebrity, but an international star courted by the mightiest names in media and Hollywood. He begins to think that Latika will become a liabilty in his glamorous, glitzy new life, ignored and snubbed by everyone.

He also recognizes that with his international fame and wealth he would be able to court and win the affection of any girl of his choice. As Jamal contemplates his new life full of exciting new possibilities, Latika begins to slowly fade away in his consciousness. With his goals, dreams and ambitions changing overnight, he is no longer able to feel any love for Latika. Seduced by the beautiful new world and the innumerable temptations it offers, Jamal pragmatically decides to break up with Latika.

Shocked by his betrayal, Latika goes ballistic giving interviews to newspapers and TV channels slamming Jamal for discarding him. She receives enormous amount of sympathy and support from millions of people who express disgust at the behavior of Jamal and berate him for letting success go over his head. Feather-brained feminists like Shobhaa De write columns condemning Jamal for becoming a turncoat and express solidarity with poor Latika.

Does Jamal realize the error of his ways and comes back to Latika asking for forgiveness? According to our sources, Boyle has two different endings in his mind - one a very populist ending where he realizes that he has wronged Latika and goes back to her begging her to forgive him and a more realistic ending where both Jamal and Latika realize that concepts like love overcoming all class barriers are humbug meant only for silly, feel-good romance movies and that differences in status, success and wealth are real and should be accepted hardheartedly.

Our sources say that while Danny Boyle prefers the realistic ending, he is likely to choose the more populist ending considering the success that the fairy-tailish ending of rags-to-riches tale of Jamal coming up trumps against all odds, brought him at the box-office and at award functions.

I just got to read your article. and thought it to be more than cynical: it is an antithesis of the very message that SDM wants to preach.

This girl has been utterly insensitive and crass, totally graceless in her behaviour.

I don't mean that she had a lifetime commitent to this Rohan (I believe you have a commitment when you as much as mutually fall in love and commit this to the other: the commitment to be considerate of the other half, and not damage that person - and I don't think there is a commitment to be together till death-do-you-part, but remember, both are Catholics and Catholic canons are very strict about this), but she is an immature person, who cared little for the feelings of someone who probably was a very big stepping stone to her sucess. I would not be surprised if it turns out that Rohan actually did almost everything that got her noticed and got her the role.

Anyways, the entire brush strokes in your article say that she has the right to walk away...I agree up to here, she has...but does she have no responsibilities? If she is young and has a life ahead, Rohan is just as young. And he has been so totally destroyed that it is unlikely that he will ever be able to get over this. He has been publicly named and called all sorts of things, all for maybe being a door mat to a pretty girl whom he adored. There are people who have tarred him just because he loved her, and does not look as good as she does. The way he looks is not his fault, ....but does she also not look totally gauche in most pre-Oscar photos? She has the benefit of now being remembered only for the designer and stylist delivered poise, when he is being judged on the same photos which were not devised with the help of a couturier or a style specialist - and her gauchiness quotient is not discussed - it is being discussed in some American blogs where people have said things about her dress sense pre the SDM days, and with extreme derision, at that.

Why did this graceless person (frankly, I cannot call her a lady), do this resolution so horribly? There were better ways of getting out of an unwanted marriage. And a phone call is no resolution: it just shows you have no respect (love and respect are two different things, you don't love? ok, but don't show dis-respect). In fact there has been no resolution from her side at all: Just a "get lost, prom-date, I got another beau"!

She agreed to the engagement / wedding and if you know your law, under Catholic canons, probably the wedding was complete. She was not forced into this. There can be no annulment over a year later (and will she go to the Pope?), and an Indian court will trash her if Rohan does not agree to a mutual divorce: courts don't like wedding wows being treated like a changeable vest, especially when the other half has done nothing wrong. So what, will she act as if she had no legal problem? She probably has a huge legal problem, one that she does not even have an inkling about.

She probably is very smart in respect of her single minded focus on her show-biz career, but not in terms of handling such issues with grace and tact or even something as basic as understanding fan behaviour. Maybe not being sure of the future, she built a backup of a meal ticket, and when she saw that she did not require a meal ticket, she just dumped her husband. How different is she from the satanic people of Mumbai who maim others so they can exploit them, as you saw in SDM?

A more mature person would have first taken advice from someone who could help resolve this issue. Help define her position, take into consideration the position of her fiance / husband, would have worked out an exit path, without damaging Rohan, letting him keep his dignity intact. She did not even have the grace to meet him in person and talk to him and gently decide to have a joint exit, and ensure that he would not be damaged - he did nothing to damage or hurt her, did he? Now if he does start, I am not sure he is not justified, does not have extremely explosive stuff. She already has lost the Latika-of-undying-selfless love image: she is the Freida of greedy-self-love to all her (now) ex-fans.

As it is, she has killed him in every metaphorical way. Even if you no longer love your other half, leaving that person should not mean afflicting cruelty: and this is mental cruelty, you will agree. This was a high school prom-date swisheroo, and this cannot be condoned.

If she had any sense left, she would first of all visit Rohan, talk to him, apologise to him and his family, and tell the world that she made a mistake in handling this the way she did. This is no replacement for the way she should have acted in the first instance, but atleast, she takes the blame square, rather than stay hidden in LA, and avoid a resolution that is now only her responsibility to make.

She seems to have been very badly advised: by her Hollywood agent and her Indian agent, who probably are only interested in the money then can milk, not what is good for her. If they had any sense, they would have told her not to do this on the phone, go to Mumbai meet him, tell all those people who you see in the photos, that she was sorry, and that Rohan was not at fault. Then they could have closed it without any non-sense being talked about, and while never good, it would have looked civilized.

But why should people like you tell Rohan / his friends to keep quiet? Just because the girl is more successful? Would you have the same words, if say, a Shahrukh had dumped his wife on becoming successful? I am sure there would be hell to pay then. I am a total equality believer, but your thoughts are just lop-sided to the favour of Freida just because she is a girl. Rohan has actually kept a lid, it is impossible not to let something out, but what he could have done is a lot more. Sense has prevailed and he has stopped at reacting to media, which often acts like a catalyst in the form of a detonator: it wants explosive stuff, and can push a person to the end till he breaks.

Let Freida have her life, but she should have handled this far, far better and a civilized way. She has lost much of the goodwill she got, and in India, and especially in Mumbai, she is dead meat.

Hollywood has historically treated Indians as exotic beings - after all they cater to a largely white audience (we treat blondes as exotic, don't we?). They appear as a jungle boy / girl, or a stereo typed brownie with an accent, may be a jackass in a move by Peter Sellers, or as a turbaned rajah or a bejeweled rani, or probably a Dharavi waif, and if lucky a doctor in an Americal hospital, and she may well find that when the novelty wears off and she is seen there day-in and day-out, she is no longer the face people are interested in. The US is an awfully expensive place and you can go to being bankrupt pretty fast. She may find that she has to come back to good ol' Mumbai before long and she will have a rich, unwanted brand equity out here.

Hi Ms De, I always read your blog, and have read all your older books. Just a comment here, you yourself never put on an accent, and you usually catch fakers out immediately, so how did you let Freida off the hook for her American accent, acquired in less than 6 months?I also found her latest comment, printed in Vogue, about her writing "because she's international now", in response to a question about her not wearing an Indian designer arrogant and pretentious. Why not just say she likes Valentino or Dior better than Tarun Tahiliani?

I guess the movie is on the making right now! However, an interesting twist has been added to the story. Being Hollywood as it is, Jamal hotness lasted less than 15 minutes, and the producers soon realize that the bad press Jamal has received in the last days for dumping poor Latika has made him lost most of the good will and popularity he got with his overnight success. So, he becomes dead meat very quickly, and then he has no choice but going back to the slums crawling back to Latika's arms.

You got the story and the idiom right. Unmlike some socialites who serenaded Frieda simply because she dumped her fiance! Great role models these self appointed thinkers make! You are great if you dump your fiance / husband, and if you do this senselessly without affording any dignity to your fiance / husband, that makes you even more successful!

Love isn't a calculus of who is more famous or rich: it is celebrating a commitment: Freida, the selfish had none whatsovere, except to create a mealticket: she was not forced into an engegement was she? Apparently Shobaa De probably will find a reason to allege that she was forced! And what about those people who were there in those photos? They were just trash also I guess, including Freida's idioitcally stupid parents!

I remember a seminar in 2006 or 2007 (the budget one) a the Oberoi, where I saw a girl in blue, ushering guests in (the Regal room), and later handing out the microphone during the QnA. She did not look particularly pretty, I would say she stood out because the crowd was that of CA's who even at their best look like dead fish.

I recall today that she has a lapel pin, wihch gave an unusual name: Freida. I just went back and saw the photos: yes, thats her, no questions, earning a few quid to survive. After the do, there was a guy who was standing outside the regal room (at 1130 PM), with whom she left hand-in-hand (also in the photos) - this must be the unlicky and hapless Rohan, who waited till midnight to pick up Freida, and drvie her back to faraway Malad. It did not look like over the years he built her up to become his golden goose - he looked like a loverlorn chap who was happy he had what he wanted: the hand of a reasonably attractive girl.

Sad, you love someone to pieces and that person publicly dumps you (after an engagement, this is a public dumping, no question), and without even a personal meeting. This is not the action of a good person, this is the action of an immature and suddenly arrogant person, who does no know the meaning of the words love, respect, dignity, commitment and acceptance of blame.

Her upbringing has just come out, I say. She is going to get her just desserts, and the sooner the better.

I don’t believe in “love”, but in projects of life held by adults who want to pursue their interests with respect and solidarity. At what point Miss Pinto (or is she Ms. Antao?) became an international sensation? I have my own theory. I am from Mexico and I watched the movie and for about 90 minutes you see nothing but misery, abuse, hopeless. Then, in the last 15 minutes you see this cute girl showing up to give a happy ending. I guess this is the reason why people connected with her emotionally. If you ad an international tour to promote the movie, designer’s clothes, limousines and a bunch of stylists, all of that fueled by the Hollywood marketing machine, you get it –a new star in the making. In the next days I watched some interviews she gave to American TV programs, and she looked gorgeous, intelligent and fresh, not your average plastic Hollywood star. But fame intoxicates, and she felt in a fame induced amnesia (and I would also say stupidity) which led her to handle the Rohan Antao issue in the worst possible way. She didn´t commit a crime by dumping her boyfriend/fiancé/husband or whatever he is/was, the man who stood for by her from the beginning and who was a major part of her success. But the way she dealt with it was simply horrible, cruel, graceless. She humiliated him, her friends, his friends, her relatives and his relatives publicly and worldwide. If only she could’ve walked out properly. I wonder how all the people who appeared in the wedding ceremony photos would react next time they ran into Freida’s face. And this is something that rankles. Very disappointing. I think she has already lost most of the good will she got from the movie, that most of the charm has faded away. Is it her private life, and she has every right to do whatever she wants to do for good or bad? Yes, of course, but her amnesia/stupidity made the issue public and in the worst possible way! Does she have any chance in Bollywood? I don’t think so. As I told you, I am from Mexico and Bollywood movies are not seen here. I have only watched two Indian movies so far and I think they’re quite different from the Hollywood style. Also I have realized that Indians like white skin, green eyed, voluptuous actresses for heroines, a model a little far from the Pinto’s type. However, I guess that the bad press Freida has got in the last weeks has turned her into a corpse in India, also in Mumbai. Am I wrong? As for Hollywood, it’s hard to say. Being Hollywood as it is, where your hotness lasts less than 15 minutes, the novelty of the fresh Indian cute girl could wear off very quick. Did she make the good decision? I don’t think so. She and Rohan teamed up to put her where she’s now. Rohan has his own marketing services company, they could have teamed up to boost her career hadn’t Freida dumped him. Today I read that she’s dating Dev Pattel. Come on! If she wants to boost her career, she at least should be dating a Hollywood big shot, not a teenager! Anyway, time will tell. Let’s hope things will work good for Freida, but also for Rohan Antao. Finally, don’t be so pessimistic about Rohan’s future, she could create another Freida and lauch her to stardom, let’s hope this time he chooses better!

P. S. Can you share the photos you are talking about? My mail is luvianka@gmail.com.

I agree: it is her life and Rohan's as well, and they know how to run it. The only thing at issue is the maturity in taking a difficult step without hurting your better half - and that is all.

Rohan is an entrepreneur and will learn how to pick himself up: in business there will be many more difficult situations: cutting deals, facing competition, cutting flab, sacking staff, recruiting them again, doing all this with sensitivity, and ensuring that the business survives ans grows: that is anyways more important than a person who dumped him. Hope he focuses on this and gets to success.

The photos: are part of an office compendium, and cannot be distributed - I have read rights only: I can give the date and venue: 1st or 2nd March, 2007, The Oberoi Hotel (same place that got terrorised last November), Regal Room, 7 to 11 PM.

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